Brace yourself! Transitions are tough for kids with mood disorders, and the fall return to school is one of the biggest transitions our kids face.

You may notice a spike in anxiety and irritability in the weeks before school begins, as anticipation builds. It can be nearly impossible to rouse our kids from bed and get them dressed, fed and out the door when nothing much is planned. All this is magnified for the momentous first days of school.

The move to middle school was the first exceptionally difficult school transition for my daughter, and every year after that got harder. As she entered junior high, she didn’t know what to expect. She worried about increased academic demands and whether she would find her way to different classrooms for each subject. She feared passing periods among older, bigger students, especially the 8th graders.

Like many kids with mood disorders, my daughter was bullied, a problem that grew worse throughout middle school. These experiences added to her dread, and in the final weeks of summer, the whole family walked on eggshells.

There are no easy fixes, but I tried to reduce the angst by breaking transitions down into smaller, more manageable steps. Here are some ideas to help your child manage back-to-school and other big transitions:

•  Help your child anticipate what will happen. Get a school map and walk the classroom route with your child before school begins, or encourage your child to do this with a friend or on his or her own.
• Identify others who can help—a teacher, social worker or another student. Ask the school to identify a student who can be your child’s school “buddy”. 
• Encourage positive self-talk. Rehearse positive possibilities with your child.
•  Make sure your child gets enough sleep before the big day. Choose clothes and pack up the backpack the night before. Encourage a morning routine.
• If your child has been bullied in the past, meet with the principal before classes begin and ask for a plan to make sure teachers and other staff will be alert and act swiftly if there is a re-occurrence. 
• Things don’t always go smoothly. Help your child make a plan for what to do if there is a problem, so he or she doesn’t have to figure out what to do in a very stressful situation. Identify a safe, supervised refuge where your child can go if needed.

Do you have suggestions for how to make the school transition easier? What works for your child?